Stop-motion for circular-knitting machines.



H. E. HOUSEMAN.

STOP MOTION FOR CIROULAR KNITTING MACHINES.

' APPLICATION FILED JAN. 17. 1916.

1 1 9 1 ,5 1 3 1 Patented July 18, 1916.

4 SHEETSSHEET l.

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STOP MOTION FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- !7, IBIS. 1,191,513, Patented July 18, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2- F/QJ. F164.

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I STOP MOTION FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES.

' APPLICATION FILED JAN-17,1916. 1,1 9 1,5 13. Patented July 18, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- IAIVEWIOI? fi aro/o E. lVauseman JTTOR/VEY.

H. E. HOUSEMAN.

STOP MOTION FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED JAN-17, 1.91s.

1 ,1 91,5 1 3. Patented July 18, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- k *q c w c k En 5 I "1 15? 9 I lull-l5 I 4 2- g l 7 j t al P F/a/s: W Haw/6- "."QI/ mm 1m x I k IIII' WI T/VESS v [In/5N2? Magi ha f/cg o/oE Houseman Mama citizen of the United States, residing To all whom it may concern Unirinn "STATES PATENronnIcn-ij HAROLD E. HOUSEMAN, orPHIL DELPHIA, PEnNs LvAnIn, ASSIGN'OR To STANDARD I MACHINE COMPANY, or PHIL AlpEL PI-IIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A, CORPORATION or f PENNSYLVANIA,

'. STOP-MOTION 1 R CiR CULAR-KNITTING MACHINES.

' Application filed January 17, 1916. Serial No. 72,437.;

I HoUsE- Be it known that I, HAROLD at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented'a new and useful Improvement in Stop-Motions for Circular-Knitting Machines, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description, reference being had'to the accomw l0 panying drawings, which form a part'of this specification.

. In that class of circular knitting machine's which the needle cylinder turns and the cam ring is stationary, there are periods of rotation, -in'which the needle cylinder .re-

volves continuously, and-there are periods of'oscillation, .in. which the needle cylinder is'caused to turn baclrand' forth through an arc of about (say) seven'eighths of a full .revolution. 'During oscillation half the needles, herein termed the rear bank-ofnedles, are raised and'held out of action, and the knitting is done on the remaining needles, known as the front bank of needles. 25

The changesfrom rotation to oscillation, and-vice versa, as well as the raising and lowering of needles out of: and into action, are governed from a cam d1sk,cam' drum, or

its equivalent, which in turn is actuated stepby step, at the prOper'times, .by lugs,

arranged at predetermined-but unequal dis-' tances apart on a pattern cha n, as is. well known in the a'rt.

I As will-be hereinafter described, certain situations may arise, especially where. the pattern chain is moved by hand and thereby .brought out of time with the mechanism tlIHlZ-llLgOYQI'HS, in which some parts of the mechanism mechanically interfere .with others, resulting in damage to the mechanism; and the object of the present i'nven-. tion is ,to provide a device. which in' such cases will automatically stop the machine, therebypreventing damage, and also calling the attention of the operator: to the fac'tth'at something is wrong withthe setting or-timing of tl1e'machine. v h

v I will now describe a preferred form of mechanism for carrying out my invention, in connection Wlth one of the various types of circular knitting machine towhlch my 111-" vention is applicable, and-at the same time Specification of Letters I atent Pat fited. J ily 18; 1916;

' I will point out and explain certain typical parts mentioned Figure I is a-sectional plan View .of a por' tion of a circular knitting machine embody- ;ing my invention; Fig. 2 .is a front view of same. F gs. 3 and 4 are more or less 'diagrammatic plan'views showing my invention in relation to the needle cylinder under dif-[ ferent conditions. Fig; 5. is'a side view of same. Figs. 6 and 7 are enlarged fragmen-' tary views illustrating instances of'interference of parts. Figs. 8 to 12 inclusive are diagrammatic views illustrating the needle cylinder and needlesunder various conditions.- F1gs.13 and 14 are plan views, simi! lar' to Figs-3 and 4, o'f"another form of mechanism. F ig. 15 is a front el'ev'atioh'and Fig. 16 a partialside elevation of same,

, Upon the frame a-f0f the machine is mounted the bed plate I), which carries the rotatable needle cylinder 0, the fixed cam ring d, and appurtenant, mechanism The needle cylinder receives its mot on .rotation,or-oscillation from the constantly revolving fixed pulleye, and is brought to a stop 1n. the stoppage 'of the machine by shifting the driving belt to the loose pulley f. Theconnections and driving meansbetween the needle cylinder and the driving pulley may be of any of those knownin the art." For example, appropriate connections are fully' described in an application filed by Harry A, Houseman, September 22, 1915,

my invention' I k h Turnably mounted directly below the needle cylinder is the cam disk 9, which, as

ated by pawl h-on slide i under the action of a'l ug on the pattern chain j.

Connected with cam disk-;g a cam 0' 4 (Figs. 1 to 12 inclusive), which, in a certain position, raises by its beveled-end certain mechanism which thereby causes the shift 'Serial No. 51,939, and need not be shown-or described herein, as they form no part -of,90,

from rotationto reciprocation. A following turn of the cam disk carriescam beyond position of cam at this time is as shown in' said mechanism, which is then again lowered to cause the shift. back to rotation. Tht

Figs. 1 and 2, and moving in the direction -of the arrow. At this time a* pin 1) is in position to be raised by the forward beveled end of cam 0 just prior to the time the shift mechanism is dropping off the rear end of said cam. Pin 1; 1s carried on an arm 9, pivoted to a fixed bracket on the machine frame. The outer end of arm 9 isforked and made to engage between two collars on by abell crank 42, pivotally mounted in proximity to the needle cylinder. The other end of the bell crank carries a beveled stop piece w, which in the turn of the bell crank is moved against the needle cylinder in line with the upper level of those needle butts which are out of action.

The lower end of rod 1' carries an arm 00, Which normally lies in position to act upon a pin 7 to trip ofi a stop motion and stop.

the machine. Said stop motion is of known design and may be briefly described as follows :A' spring pressed belt shifter 8 is slidably mounted in a bracket 9 attached to the frame of the machine in such manner that when said shifter is released it will shift the driving belt from driving pulley e to loose pulley f and the machine be stopped.

stocking, and similarly when passing from In starting'the machine the hand-lever 10 is moved to the left, Fig. 2, shifting the belt to the driving pulley by drawing against the head 11 attached to shifter 8. The shifter is then held in this position by means of a sprlng pressed catch arm 12, which acts as a latch to hold the shifter in the position of dItlVlIl-g; Pin 7 is carried by this catch arm, so that by moving the pin, the catch Wlll be sprung, and the machine stopped.

In order to fully understand the applicat1on of my invention, it is necessary to go somewhat into the action of the needles in the course of knitting a StQCkiDg.

During the knitting of the leg portion of the-stock1ng the cylinder is rotated and all the needles are in action under the influence of the regularknitting cams. When passmg fromthe leg portion to the heel of the I thefoot portion-tothe toe, the motion of means of their long butts.

the needle cylinder is changed from'lrotation to oscillation,- and-T the needles of the rear bank are thrown out of. action by The cylinder then, oscillates and lmits the first half of the heel on the front bank of needles Z, one

of said needles being moved out of action atto reverse the foregoing action and bring active when the change to rotation occurs.

descent. and damage will occur.

each oscillation to form the V-shape required, The needles are thus moved out of action, one at, a time, first at one end of the bank-and then at the other end, alternately, until only a limited number of needles in the central part of the bank remain in action. At this moment a lug on the pattern chain moves the cam. disk another step, which brings certain pickers into operation the needles of the front bank into action again one at atime, to form the second half of the heel. This continues and the constantly Widening set of active needles in- 'creases until nearly all of the front bank are so again in action, before the next change takes place. This change comprises the shift back to rotation, the operation of theyarn carriers, and the lowering of all the needles of the rear bank into action again, and is timed returning the inactive needles of the front bank into action. That is, at the time of this change there will remain a. couple of needles at each end of the front bank that have not been brought back into action. This-number may be as great as 5or 6; the exact number is not important, provided there are not more than so many still in- The next lug of the pattern chain governs this change to rotation, and if this should inadvertently occur prematurely, it would cause the following interference: At this time a new yarn is thrown into action, and one of the yarn carriers "In, Fig. 6, is brought down from the dotted to the full line position for" this purpose. It willbe observed that the clearance line of the throwpasses through the line of needles in their upper inactive position, but clears the needles that are in the lower line, i. 6. active. The lowering of the yarn carrier occurs shortly after the end of an oscillation of the needle cylinder-on its'return motion, when the line of needles in the upper position is far enough around on the return motion to pass the yarn carriers. At this instant the carriers will clear all the long butt needles and a few of the short butts next to them. However, if, as above stated, more than 5 or 6 such needles remain in the upper line at this time, the yarn carriers will strike them in their The pattern chain is set by the hand wheel 11,, which may be turned freely, and lugs brought prematurely into action if care is not exercised. When about half way through-the heel, when certain pickersshould be-made operative to bring the needles, one by one, down into action again, if for any reason this operation isdelayed, the needles would conv tinue to be taken up out-of action until all the needles of the front bank were up in line with the needles'of the rear bank. Then, if 130 a to. take place just before the completion of i5 the pickers .are made operative, there would be no gap for them to enter theline of butts and they could not bring any needles down.

The next lug on the pattern chain would follow, dictating thechange to rotation, and bringing into action a cam 14, which, in 10w.-,

cring, acts upon the butts of all the needles of both-banks to bring them down into action. As seen in Fig.7, there'would be, in this case, no gap in the line forcam 14 to enter, and it would therefore press the needle butts down in V-shape as shown.. This occurs just as the change to rotation takes place, and the next turn of the cylinder would bring certain mid-way butts 15 into 7 contact with the end of one of the stationary knitting cams shown at 16, and damage would occur. Again, in the event of the pickers above mentioned being made operative at the right time, the following step of cam disk may be made prematurely, 2'. 6.

before any or more than a few of the short butt needles have been returned to active position, as before stated. This condition is lllustrated in Fig. 4: cam 14 in lowering w1ll I strike some of the butts and bring them down into the position of those marked 15 in Fig. 7 and damage will again occur. In both these cases in which-cam 14 causes interference, as there are more than the 5 or. 6 short butt needles at each end out of action,

it will be understood that interference with 'the yarn carriers also occurs.

The positions of the long and short buttneedles at the two extremes of oscillation of the cylinder are shown diagrammatically in Figs. 8 and 9, 2 and 2 being the dividing points between the long and shortbutt needles. Stop piece 10 is here shown outof act1on, as it Wlll be in every case except at ust the danger time described. At that time. stop piece 10 is caused to move inwardly to' ward the needle cylinder. More definitely, this movement is caused to take'place just prior to the end of throw of the last oscillation when the needles stand about as shown in Fig. 10, which shows some'5 or 6 of the short butt needles still out of action. Comparing this with Fig. 8 will show that there is just about room enough between the eX- treme position line and'stop piece w for this many butts without acting upon the stop piece. If, however, more of the short butt Y needles are still. up out of action at this the described-mechanism,as follows: As stop piece to is carried by bell Crank 0, its movement will turnv the bell crank and cam u.

will press pin 6 t0 the left, Fig. 5. This .movement of the pin tturns rod 1 so that arm a: thereon acts upon pin 7 to trip off the stop mechanism.

If it occurs that the changetakes place so soon 'after 'the down pickershavebeen made operative that there are only a few of the needles remaining knitting at the time, then, when the stop piece is pressed in toward the cylinder, it will strike some of the butts and be prevented from completing its movement. In this case, in the raising ofrod pin 25 will-slide upon cam' u, and Wlllbe forced to turn, .presslng arm below against catch pin 7 and tripping off the stop mechanism. Thus at every change from oscillation to rotation, when acam 0 is brought into action, the first movement will-be to turn bell crank 1;. Unless there is some error in the timing, this bell crank can turn freely, but if all of the needles or too many of them are out of action,

the stop piece w will either be prevented from approaching the cylinder in its full movement, or having approached' will be forced out. again bythe extra needle butts, in both cases turning rod r, and actuating the stop mechanism as described.

' It will be understood that the special embodiment of the invention hereinbefore described,- acts upon the upper row of needlebutts, 0., those which are out of action. At

the time of danger, a-stop piece is brought against the needle cylinder in linewith the upper line-of butts, normally with an idle movement, but ifthere are too many of these butts the movement of the stop piece" is effective tocause the machine to stop and prevent injury. Such a result, may also be brought about by mechanism co-a-ctingwith the lower line of butts. A stoppiece may be pressed toward'the needle cylinder in l ne with the active butts and normally strike them and -not be allowed to complete the movement. If, however, there are not as many active butts as there should be, the

stop piece will be pressed in against the cy1- inder and this movement caused to stop the machine.

I do not wish, therefore, to limit the scope of my invention merely to stop mechanism acted upon by the upper line of butts, but

intend to include stop mechanismcontrolled by the butts of needle, Whetheractive or inactive, as one or the other be found more convenient tense in a given machine.

A form of mechanism for acting on the lower line of butts is shown in Figs. 13, 14, 15 and 16. As in the first described form of my invention, a vertical rod 1" is mounted in brackets on the machine,and carries at its lower end an arm 00 for acting upon latch pin 7 for tripping off thestop mechanism. Mounted on the upper end of rod 1'" is an arm carrying a stop piece '11), in line With the butts of the active needles, Z. Rod r peo' 1 also carries a finger p in line of travel of an annular cam mounted'to rotate with cam disk 9. A spring 5 holds finger 32. against cam 0' and arm 02. in position to act upon latch pin 7 However, cam o,"being circlflar, prevents arm 00' from -acting during the movement ofthe cam disk, except at the danger point. At these points cam o is are in one of their vertical positions and controlled in its operation by the position of said butts, and pattern mechanism independently controlling the positioning of the needle and the movement into operative position of said contrivance.

5. In automatic stops for circular knitting machines, in combination, a needle cylinder,

furnished with a depression 4 for finger p vertically movable needles therein provided .Which would allow arm 21'. to trip the stop mechanism. However, at'these points, stop piece should strike the butts of active needles and prevent the turning of rod '1" and the tripping of the stop mechanism. Therefore if the finger does move in against the cylinder at this time, and the arm w trips pin 7 to stop the machine, it is because not-enough needles had been brought back into action; in other words, because the change to rotation had been brought about prematurely, which would occasion the threatened damage to the machine, already described, if it were not prevented from- 7 having that efiect by the actuation of the stop mechanism. Having nowfully described. myinvention, what I claim and desire to-protect by Letters Patent is: a

1. In automatic stops for circular knitting machines, in combination, a needle cylinder, vertically movable. needles therein provided with butts, 'mechanismto stop the machine and a contrivance adapted to actuate the "stop mechanism and controlled in its operation by the-butts of needles.

' 2. In automatic stops for circular knitting machines, in combination, a needle cylinder,

vertically movable needles therein provided with butts, mechanism to stop the machine,

5 40 and a contrivance connected with the stop mechanism and movable toward and from Q- the needle cylinder and located in operative relation to the butts of certain needles when ,{the same are in one of their vertical positions and adaptedto be controlled in its operation bysaid butts:

f 3. In automatic stops for circular knitting f machines, in combination, a needle cylinder, vertically movable needles therein, mechanismfor stopping the machine, and a' contrivance adapted to control the operation of 1 the stop mechanism and a part whereof is adapted to move into the space occupied by the butts of certain needles when the same are in one of their vertical positions and controlled in its operation by the position of said butts. e 1

" 41 In automatic stops for circular'knitting machines, in combination,.a needle cylinder, '60 vertlcally. movable needles therein, mechanism for stopping the machine, and a contrivance adapted to control the operation of the stop mechanism and a. part whereofis fadapted to move into the space occupied by the butts of certaln needles when the same provided with butts, mechanism to stop the with butts, mechanism to stop the machine, and a contrivance operable by the butts of needles toactuate the stop mechanism.

6. In automatic stops for circular knitting machines, in combination, a needle cylinder, vertically movable needles therein, mechanism for stopping the machine, and a contrivance a part whereof is adapted 'to move into the space which is occupied by the butts of certain needles when the same are in one of their vertical positions and adapted to be engaged by the butts of the needles when the same are in such position and to be thereby operated to actuate the stop mechanism.

7 In automatic stops for circularknitting '..machines, in combination, a needle cylinder,

vertically movable needles therein, mechanism for stopping the machine, and a contrivance a part whereof is adapted to move into the space which is occupied by the butts g, of certain needles when the same are in one of their vertical positions and adaptedto be engaged by the butts of the needles when the same are in such position and to be thereby operated to actuate the stop mechanism, and pattern mechanism independently controlling the positioning of the needles and the movement into operative position of said contrivance. p 8. In automatic stops for circular knitting machines, in combination, a needleacylinder, vertically movable needles therein provided with butts, mechanism to stop the machine, a lever movable into the space occupied by the butts of certain needles when. the same are in one 0:1 their vertical positions, and connections between said lever, and the stop mechanism adapted to be rendered operative to operate the stop mecha nism dependent upon whether or not the butts of said needles obstruct said movement of the lever. I 9. In automatic stops for circular knitting machines, in combination, aneedle cylinder, vertically movable needles therein machine, a lever adapted to be moved into the space occupied by, the butts of certain needles when the same are in oneof their vertical positions,- and a device between said lever and saidstop mechanism adapted to be actuated to somove said lever and to be itself actuated by said lever, upon engagement of the latter with the butts of said need1es,-to operate the stop mechanism. a

lOQIn automatic stops for circular knitting machines, the combination with the needle cylinder and the needles therein, said needles provided with butts and slidable vertically into and out of action, of pattern mechanism adapted to control the movement of said needles into and out of action, a contrivance a part whereof is adapted to be moved by the pattern mechanism into a space occupied by butts of certain needles when the same are in one of their vertical positions, and mechanism for stopping the machine connected with and adapted to be actuated by said contrivance when the same engages the butts of the needles.

, .11. In automatic stops for circular knitting machines, the combination with the needle cylinder and the needles vertically slidable therein into and out of action, said needles provided with butts, of a contrivance a part whereof is normally out of the path of the butts of both active and inactive needles but which is adapted to be moved into a space. occupied by butts of certain needles when the same are raised to an inactive position and timed normally to be moved into such space when such needles are lowered to an active position, pattern mechanism adapted to control the movement of said needles into and out of action and adapted also to actuate said contrivance, and mechanism for stopping the machine connected with and adapted to be actuated by said contrivance when the butts of improperly raised needles engage the same.

12. In automatic stops for circular knitting machines, the combination with the needle cylinder and the needles, provided with butts, vertically slidable therein into and out of action," of pattern mechanism adapted to control the movement of said needlesinto and out of action, a lever adapted to be moved into a space occupied by butts of certain needles when the same are mechanism, a cam engagement between said device and lever adapted to transmit the last-named movement of the device to the lever and adapted also to give to said device said lever, and stop'mechanism actuatable by said device in the second of its difl'erential movements.

13. In automatic stops for: circularknitting machines, the combination with the needle cylinder and needles vertically slidable therein into and out ofaction, said needles provided with butts, of a step-bystep actuated pattern disk adapted in certain of its movements to control the movement of said needles into and out of action, a regularly operated pattern chain having lugs irregularly spaced apart adapted to control the actuation of said disk, a contrivance apart whereof is normally out of the paths of the butts of active and inactive needles but which is adapted to be moved into a space which is occupied by butts of certain needles when the same are raised to an inactive position and timed normallyto be moved into such space when such needles are lowered to an active position, connections from the pattern disk adapted to so actuate said contrivance, and mechanism for stopping the machine connected with and adapted to be actuated by said contrivance when, due to misplacement of the pattern chain relative to the pattern disk, the butts of improperly raised needles operate to obstruct or displace said contrivance.

l lQIn automatic stops for circular knitting machines, the combination with the needle cylinder and the needles therein, said needles provided with butts and slidable vertically into and out of action, of pattern mechanism adapted'to control the movement of said needles into and out of action, a lever adapted to be moved into a space occupied by butts of certain needles when the same are'in'one of their vertical positions, a Vertically movable and turnable rod, pattern mechanism adapted to vertically move the rod, a cam connection between the rod and lever whereby the lifting of the rod operates the lever and the lever, if obstructed or displaced by engagement with the butts of improperly positioned needles, turns the rod, and mechanism to sto the machine adapted to be actuated vby the turning of the rod.

In testimony of which invention, I have hereunto set my hand, at Philadelphia, on this 15th. day of January, 1916.

HAROLD E. HOUSEMAN. 

